On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview that his government intends to purchase a new Russian anti-missile defense system in order to combat attacks from the US and Israel. “It's natural that we should have such systems,” he told Syrian news agency SANA.

“Israel has been committing aggressions on the Arab states surrounding it since its creation in 1948,” Assad said. “It is natural for us to negotiate with the Russians now with a view of strengthening (our) systems, whether to face any Israeli threat from the air or the threats of American missiles.”

At the beginning of the month, the US attacked a Syrian air base in the city of Homs, from which officials believe the deadly chemical attack in Idlib was launched. “To protect Syria's most sensitive infrastructure,” said Russian spokesman Igor Konashenkov. “A complex of measures will be implemented in the near future to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces' air defense system.”